If the venerable Boston restaurant Locke-Ober were a person, she would be a queen dowager, dressed in finery, eating off only the best linen and china, and drinking imported tea with her pinky finger extended. On Saturday night, after 137 years, this queen, who has hosted Kennedys and Kerrys, Brahmins and barons, took her last breath.
A victim of changing times and real estate, Locke-Ober is closed, its building sold by owner David Ray, who says it just was not getting the business it needed. Ray told the Globe Monday that he had a choice: to make the restaurant into a more casual place to keep up with the times or to close it. He chose the latter, so that he could leave Locke-Ober’s “history and its dignity intact.”
Comments
This is sad. I was one of the "first women" to eat downstairs. I made reservations for two for Dr Murphy. When Janet and I arrived we were not refused.
I remember bringing my Mother to the bar downstairs and watching her discomfort being someplace she was "not supposed to be"
Locke-Ober's is a place of memories.
I enjoyed eating there and stopping for a drink at the bar. What killed it was mis-management, not reaching out to people. The younger crowd was unfamiliar with it and no effort by Locke-Ober to reach out to them. No ads, no signage pointing to the out of the way location. I think they just assumed everyone should be aware of them because of their reputation.
It's George Bush's fault.
Another "Institution" gone from Boston. How totally sad.
It’s sad to see this Boston institution close. I used to eat there several times a year. Unfortunately, the recent management was clueless about the hospitality business. I was about to make a reservation for six people at Locke- Ober about a year ago when I noticed on their web site said: PLEASE NOTE OUR DRESS CODE POLICY: NO DENIM, ATHLETIC SHOES, SHORTS OR SPORTS SANDALS. So I called to confirm this policy. Sure enough, no denim was allowed. Well, two of the members of my party, in their twenties, spend their whole life in jeans. I explained to the man who answered the phone that they would be well-dressed, wearing sport coats and shoes, and designer jeans. He went on with some incomprehensible double-talk about their dress policy, and then said that they would probably not turn us away if we arrived and members of the party were wearing jeans. I didn’t want to take the chance so we went to Scampo and spent a thousand dollars there instead. I never went back. I imagine that scenario played out over and over and, alas, the restaurant failed.
Don't touch a thing and make it into a museum. You could run a tour just on the decisions and meetings that were made there alone.
For most of us ordinary people, it wasn't someplace we go or could afford. Spending a thousand dollars for an evening out would send me into a catatonic state.
In other words, the closing is too bad because of the historical aspect, but I'm not much in sympathy with people who can afford wasteful aristocratic spending, or with the businesses that cater to them.
Bitta-Bing-Bitta-Bang!It will be missed, but a nicer downtown area could have probably supported it.
The atmosphere was nice and the food always good: It certainly did not cost a thousand dollars.
Mayor Menino is getting either lazy, tired or sick. Or, maybe all three. He must be replaced. Boston downtown is disgraceful. An absolute dump.
You wouldn't find another city's downtown as dumpy as the Boston downtown anywhere else in North America.
Stuffy, uptight atmosphere, extremely expensive, in a seedy part of the city. What more do you want in a restaurant?